Gov't of Canada giving $9 mln to Ukraine agriculture

[eatmorewheat]

Canada will allocate 6 million Canadian dollars for realization of five-year project of technical assistance to agriculture of Ukraine; total cost of project is 9.1 million Canadian dollars. Project "Contribution to reform and modernization in agriculture" will be financed through Canadian agency of international development (CIDA) and will become the biggest project of Canadian technical assistance to agriculture of Ukraine. CIDA announced start of realization of one more project on technical assistance to Ukraine "Quality of grain, development of system of crediting in agriculture and support of commodity exchanges", for which 3.4 million Canadian dollars were allocated.

Give them a hammer in which to smack us over the head some more.

[TOM4CWB]

Eatmorewheat;

I see the Liberals found another home for the some 9 billion dollars a year the Province of Alberta gives to Ottawa.

I have nothing against helping people in trouble... but;

Cutting the throats of Canadian grain growers... while failing to protect these same growers from subsidised production... which now includes Canadian subsidies flowing through to the FSU countries...

Time we cut the subsidies to Ottawa, from Alberta... I would say!

Ontario needs to do the same!

We need to deal on a provincial to provincial base... if this confederation is going to work!

Did you hear Alberta is planning to build 10 new schools this year?

I heard most of them were being built in Quebec...

[boone]

Tom4cwb; We usually refer to our Sask. education minister as Albertas Deputy Education Minister so it's no surprise what goes round comes round.

[melvill]

Here's how the logic goes with helping 3rd world countries that could be our competitors: Foreign aid is a very strategic and competitive business.

It's strategic because aid allows the giver to have some (large or small) influence over policies of the givee - ie. Ukraine, in this case. Maybe with a little influence, the givee will actually use some of their eventual, new-found economic well-being to buy goods, machinery, equipment or services, from the giver so economic benefit flows back to the giver.

Foreign aid is very, very competitive because if we (the giver) don't help out, some other giver will help in a heart beat because they recognize the potential future benefits (sales of goods and services) of having influence in developing countries.

Basically, if we don't help them (and hope for some eventual economic benefit for us), someone else will gladly swoop in and do it especially if the givee has resources that givers like to have access to.

So, do we not offer help (perhaps to protect our domestic industry) or do we offer help with the hope of expectation of future benefits?

[henbent]

Maybe they'll send our Minister Lee Vanclief, a failed farmer there to give their Dept some advise. Lucky them! NISA for the Ukran, that'll work.

[Braveheart]

Something that is surprising from the aid package going to the Ukraine is the support both financially and intellectually towards setting up commodity exchanges. While the Gov't of Canada chose to eliminate milling wheat, barley (other than feed), and for decades, oat trading, from real price discovery and transparency at the Wpg Commodity Exchange, they are willing to pump millions into helping the Ukraine develop a free market system.

Perhaps it was at the Ukraine's insistence seeing as they have firsthand experience at a failed Communist system, something the Gov't of Canada hasn't come to grips with yet.

[TOM4CWB]

Braveheart;

You took the words right out of my mouth!

Transparent pricing signals are key to the farmer decision making process.

The CWB does not allow "designated area" wheat and barley producers transparent pricing information... the pool system prevents this from happening!

Even with the PPO contracts, the CWB does not sell this contracted grain to a customer directly.

The CWB sells PPO contracted grain directly to the pool account, then sells these grains through the normal pooling system, the same as all the other grain the CWB sells.

"Designated area" grain farmers are in a worse position than the farmers in the Ukrane... we "designated area" farmers get thrown in jail if we attempt to arbitage the market... Ukrane farmers at least do not have this challenge.

Further, Ukrane farmers can check Black Sea selling prices that are often quoted... and then compare and see if the offered price by their marketer is fair! "Designated area" farmers can't even do this, we must check US prices...and try to convert to a comparable CDN price.

[bmj182]

I've commented on this before and I guess it
needs further adressing. The Gov't of
Saskatchewan has been sending aid to the
Ukraine for the last two years, this from a
province that is barely developed itself! The
agricultural economy HERE is in desperate
straits! The Ukraine is not a third world
country, definately not in the same sense as
Ethiopia, or many other African nations. I
find it hard to stomach sending aid to a
country which lied about its grain stocks
(DTN news) dropping wheat prices world
wide and is now short of grain again! I hate
to talk conspiracy but there are a lot of NDP
cabinet minister's that are of Ukrainian
origin. You don't see them sending aid to
Ireland, Scotland, etc. ! Helping people is an
admirable thing to do but can you really say
your helping industry in Saskatchewan by
doing this? Especially when everything
here seems to be falling apart? You don't
see McDonald's helping out BurgerKing
when times are tough! Enough said.

[jensend]

What the NDP of Saskatchewan do has nothing to do with conspiracies or reality. It is only a matter of their total ineptitude and lack of intelligence.